The Last Moments before First Steps into the Light
by S. E. Mercury
Summary: Narancia sees a familiar face when he wakes up in the afterlife.


Even with his eyes closed, Narancia could tell he was laying on the ground. It was hard, cold, and uncomfortable underneath him. Vaguely wondering if he had fallen off the couch while taking a nap, he opened his eyes and was greeted with a white void. Narancia slammed his eyes closed, chest rising and falling rapidly at the sight.

_Where am I?_

Squinting ever so slightly to let in as little light as possible, Narancia found that instead of the white void he had seen previously, there was now a blue sky above him. Blinking in confusion, he moved his hand only to feel grass between his fingers. Swearing that just a moment ago the warm earth had not been there, Narancia placed his hands behind and pushed himself up into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings.

Trees seemed to almost materialize in front of him as he gazed around, realizing he must be in some sort of park. The distant sound of people talking and laughing could be heard, but no one was in his sight until he turned his head toward a bench. The figure sitting on the park bench was a familiar one, and it only took Narancia a moment to realize who he was seeing.

With a melancholy laugh, Narancia closed his eyes and rubbed them, concluding that he must be dreaming right now. That was the only explanation he could think of, after all, he had seen Abbacchio's dead body himself only a couple days ago. However, when he reopened his eyes, Abbacchio was still sitting on the bench, the only difference being that he looked slightly more annoyed.

Eventually Abbacchio's figure sighed and shuffled its way over to Narancia. "Are you just going to sit on the ground, or are you going to come over and talk to me?" the figure asked in a voice identical to Abbacchio's before going back to the bench.

Even if it was a dream, Narancia figured, he missed his friend and wanted to spend time with him, even if it wasn't real. Scrambling to his feet, he bounced his way over to the bench and sat down.

"You had to make it so sunny, didn't you?" he grumbled, raising his hand up to block the sun from his eyes.

Narancia chuckled. "Well, it's my dream, so I guess I do make the rules."

Abbacchio's head whipped around to Narancia, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Silently, his lips pressed together into a thin line, eyebrows turning up as they furrowed.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" Narancia's voice trembled. A sinking feeling appeared in his stomach as he stared at the image of his friend.

After a moment's silence, Abbacchio sighed heavily and placed his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it: you're dead."

Narancia reached up to touch his own face, as if to prove that he was still alive. He turned his head and looked back to the spot where he had just woken up. The warm grass faded into a white nothingness that expanded seemingly forever. Turning back to Abbacchio, his eyes burned as he realized who he was looking at wasn't just a figure nor a figment of his imagination.

This was real.

Abbacchio grunted as Narancia threw himself at him, his tiny frame clinging to Abbacchio's as if he were the only thing tethering him to reality. "I'm sorry," Narancia said between muffled sobs. "I'm so sorry."

Strong hands gripped Narancia's shoulders and pried him away. "Listen," Abbacchio said, expression and voice stern, "you have nothing to apologize for, okay? You did everything you could."

Narancia sniffled and wiped his face with his hand, nodding slowly in response to Abbacchio's words.

"Seriously," Abbacchio went on, "you were an incredible member of the team. All the times you saved us or protected us with your Stand just prove that. You always kept fighting, no matter what." He looked down to Narancia and let his lips twitch into a smile, something that had been a rarity in life. "And I'm really proud of you."

Narancia balled his hands into fists on the bench, lowering his head as hot tears spilled over once more. Words of praise were few and far between for him after he was ten years old, and to hear them now from someone so selective of the praise he gave made his chest tighten. Abbacchio pulled him in for a half-hug as Narancia wiped the wetness off his cheeks for the second time.

"So, where are we?" Narancia asked after clearing his throat.

"I'm not sure exactly," he replied with a shrug. "Best guess, it's some sort of limbo. A place in between life and the afterlife, some sort of transition place made to comfort whoever it was who died."

"And why are you still here?"

"I came to get you," Abbacchio said, ruffling Narancia's hair as he did so. "It makes crossing over easier if there's a familiar face."

Narancia nodded, still coming to terms with where he was. "How did I die?" he asked in a voice just above a whisper.

"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I'm some omniscient being," Abbacchio said gruffly, but his expression softened when he caught sight of Narancia's face. "You'll remember soon enough. It takes a bit to come back to you."

He swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. "Will Bucciarati and the others be okay?"

"What did I just tell you? I don't know everything." Abbacchio reached up and rubbed his forehead.

"But you knew I was going to be here, so you should know if the others will too, right?" Narancia looked earnestly at Abbacchio, desperately trying to meet the gaze that was avoiding his own.

"It's complicated. I don't know how to explain it. Things work differently here, obviously." He sighed heavily before finally looking Narancia in the eye. "Nothing is ever set in stone, but you get a pretty good idea."

Narancia bit his lip, turning his gaze back to the spot where the grass met nothingness. "Can we see them?"

"Like a spirit looking down on their loved ones from heaven? No," Abbacchio answered bluntly. "You… find ways to see people though," he continued gently.

"I'm going to miss them," Narancia whispered, voice cracking.

With a somber expression, Abbacchio replied, "And they'll miss you too."

A solemn silence came over them for a few brief moments, the full weight of reality hitting Narancia. He would never be with his friends in life again. He would miss seeing them hit milestones in life and grow old. He himself would never reach those milestones and grow old. He would never have his first real glass of wine, never give a speech at Mista's wedding, and he would never show off a freshly earned high school diploma to Fugo.

With his heart somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he asked, "So where do we go from here?"

Abbacchio jerked his head in the opposite direction from the grassy patch Narancia had woken up in. "The Light."

"The Light?" Narancia craned his head to look. Golden rays shone where the trees had been moments before. They appeared almost tangible and as if they were part of some barrier, and Narancia shrunk back in fear of yet another unknown.

"No, it's good, don't worry," Abbacchio said with a small chuckle at the younger's reaction. "You'll like it."

"Are you coming with me? I don't want to go in alone," he pleaded.

Abbacchio shook his head. "I have a bad feeling I'm going to be welcoming another familiar face before too long. Besides," he said, pointing back towards the Light, "it looks like you've got someone in there waiting for you."

Narancia turned his head back to see a woman standing just behind the beams of light, bright smile on her face and eyes glistening with emotion. It only took him but a second to recognize her, and when he did the all too familiar tears began pricking at his eyes once more. "Mama?"

Her smile widened and she outstretched her arms, beckoning him forward.

"Mama!" he cried as he leapt off the bench and ran toward her at a breakneck speed, all but collapsing in her arms once he reached her. As he sobbed into his mother's embrace, he couldn't tell if the rays of light or her arms were warmer as she peppered the top of his head with kisses.

"I missed you so much, my sweet boy," she whispered, tears of her own sprinkling Narancia's hair. "Welcome home!"

Narancia looked up at her as she cradled his face, wiping away tears with her thumbs. He glanced back around to Abbacchio to see that the scene he had just been standing in was fading away back into the white void he first saw. Raising a hand to wave goodbye, he smiled as Abbacchio returned the gesture before fading out of his vision as well.

Hand firmly grasping his mother's, he walked across the barrier, taking his first step into the Light.


End file.
